The Kiwanis Club of Kirkland is currently sponsoring a GAME DRIVE in support of the Lake Washington School District’s LINKS program. The LINKS program, which stands for Looking into the Needs of Kids and Schools, is comprised of caring adults who volunteer at local schools as academic mentors, tutors, lunch buddies or through classroom assistance. A significant part of the program is the direct interaction with children through educational tools and game play. LINKS is in need of new or like new board games such as Chess, Checkers, Candy Land, Trouble, and Guess Who. Card games are also popular with the children, Skip Bo and Uno as examples. If you have gently used or new games that you would like to donate to the LINKS program please take the time to drop them off at Jay’s Kirkland Autocare, 817 7th Avenue in Kirkland between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.

LINKS was developed by a group of concerned parents who realized that some schools did not have enough volunteers. This program was designed in 2006 to assist schools in the Lake Washington School District as a whole. During the 2008/2009 school year there were 125 students served through LINKS with 1,240 hours divided among 44 volunteers. The program has been so successful and so popular that last year 892 students benefited with 294 volunteers dividing up 6,845 volunteer hours. It is a rewarding and fulfilling program for the students as well as the volunteers.

Jay Henwood, a Kiwanis member and owner of Kirkland Autocare, has been a lunch buddy for four years. He says volunteering one hour a week as an elementary school lunch buddy is a win-win for student and mentor. “Even when you think you’re having a bad day, go spend half an hour at recess and you will forget your troubles.”